The beginning of something
by serenitykid7875
Summary: AU story They are starting to work on new missions and one that's not a mission, but seems like one. And some are tougher than others. Biospecialist relationship. Skimmons friendship. Team Family.
1. Chapter 1

Jemma Simmons knew that Grant Ward was a man that had a secret past, but that didn't stop her from falling in love of him; she knew that she shouldn't, but just being around him made her fall more and more in love. He was kind to her and protected her, he seemed like he liked her too; she could only hope that one day he'd let her know that he loved her too. So as they both sat in the lab due to an accident that happened on one of their missions; she felt nervous with him being alone in the lab with her. She was cleaning one of his wounds when Coulson's voice came through the com; he told them that they'd be at the hub as soon as possible and that they should stay in the lab till everything was handled.

Jemma continued to look over Ward's wounds as he tried to make small talk about anything, but the issue that was currently leaving them stuck in the lab; he wanted her to feel comfortable even though he and she both knew that this was awkward. They had been collecting evidence from a mysterious murder when Jemma had accidently touched a piece of something, that wasn't meant to be touched by a human, leading to her and Ward being attacked by four armed men who were trying to get to the 084. Ward had fought the men while Jemma tried to collect the 084; she had to grab it with bare hands after Ward had the men on the floor and they needed to make a quick exit.

When they returned to the bus Jemma was helping Ward along, he had been stabbed in the leg and chest; so once they were on the bus May got them in the air and out of the area. Jemma took care of Ward's injuries and since she had touched the 084 without gloves and then touched Ward they both were told to stay in the lab under quarantine until they knew if the 084 was dangerous. Which lead to his moment of Ward asking her questions about her family while she worked on stitching up some of the stab wounds.

"So do you have any siblings?" Ward asked.

"Yes I have an older brother and little sister. I used to have a younger brother too. James is in the royal navy and Anna is a doctor in training. Do you have any siblings?" Jemma said as she started to stitch up a wound on Wards chest.

"Yes I have an older brother and a younger brother. What happened to your little brother?"

"He committed suicide when he was thirteen. He was gay and in school he was made fun of and picked on. I found him in his room. He had shot himself while the rest of us were out. We still don't know where he got the gun."

"I'm sorry to hear that Jemma. What was his name?"

"Alex. It's alright. I've worked on getting through that. What about your brothers?"

"Matt was in prison last I heard and John was murdered when he was twelve."

"What happened? Sorry you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No it's all right I just haven't really talked about it in a while. When I was younger Matt my older brother was scary, he could change from a nice persona and then he'd turn into this insane person. He would torture John and I. He used to scare me so much that I pretty much did anything that he wanted; I didn't want to do anything that he told me to do, but he would threaten me and I was young so I thought I had to listen. My parents didn't believe me when I told them some of the things that he would do; I tried to protect John as much as I could."

"I'm sure John knew that. I tried to protect Alex too."

"I don't know if John knew that, but I hope that he did. I'm sure Alex knew too. So one day Matt threw John in to the well that he would throw him into when he was upset and wanted to teach him a lesson. John was struggling so much that I ran and got my parents, but by time I got there with them it was too late. My parents called the police and they came to arrest Matt and get John's body out of the well, but before they could get there I started to try and beat Matt up and my parent's had me arrested for assault. I was so angry at all of them; I ended up in juvie that's where I met Agent Bradley. He talked to the judge and got me released; after that I stayed with him and he taught me a lot of things and prepared me for the academy."

"I'm so sorry Grant. You've had a tough childhood. How old were you when John died?"

"Fifteen."

"How old were you when Alex committed suicide?"

"I had just turned sixteen."

Jemma had finished stitching up the wounds on Ward's body and they sat together on the lab table top; Ward put an arm around Jemma as I'm sorry and a thank you. Jemma leaned into Ward's embrace and they both sat there thinking for a few moments before the heard Coulson again, "Were about an hour from landing."

Jemma and Ward didn't reply, they knew that the rest of the team were probably watching them from the conference room; they both were surprised that Skye, Triplett, and Fitz weren't at the doors hanging out and talking with them while they waited to land at the hub.

In the conference room, Coulson and May were watching the video feed, but weren't listening to what was going on. Skye, Triplett, and Fitz had been in and out of the room to check on Ward and Jemma, but they were given orders so they only came when they needed a break. On the video feed Ward and Jemma were still talking, but Jemma had started to do research on the 084 they picked up; Coulson and May both noticed the look Ward would get when Jemma was working with something dangerous.

"Do you think he'd ever tell her that he loves her?" Coulson asked wanting everyone to be happy.

"I don't know. She loves him too, but feels she's not his type." May replied.

"He probably thinks that she and Fitz are an item and if he didn't think Fitz and she were together he'd probably think she likes Triplett."

"Everyone who doesn't live on this bus thinks that. It's because they finish each other's sentences and they basically are the same. Skye and Triplett know that they both are denying the feelings that they have."

"Triplett told me he knew something was going on between the two of them and that he thought I should know should anything happen to one of them."

May just nodded and agreed that it was a good idea to know just how much Ward and Jemma cared about each other. On the video feed Jemma was starting to check out the body of the victim and was beginning to do the autopsy, while she waited for the test results to come back about the 084.

Back in the lab Ward was starting to ask Jemma questions, while she did the autopsy on the man that Coulson and Fitz had brought back to the bus before Ward and Jemma left the scene; Jemma was starting to take out the man's organs to weight and dissect them to get information that could help them.

"So have you always wanted to do this?" Ward asked.

"When I was younger I wanted to be a veterinarian, but when there was an outbreak of herpangina that affected some of my cousins, it fascinated me. So I started looking into chemistry and biology; during psy-ops I started to go to classes to be a doctor and finished a little before we got on the team."

"Wow that's amazing."

"Thanks. Did you ever think that you'd want to do this before juvie?"

"No, not really I never thought that far ahead. When I was younger I was just trying to survive, my parents weren't the greatest plus Matt was crazy, but that wasn't till I was about eight and John was five. We moved around a lot, my dad had drug problems and my mom had a drinking problem, I'm surprised no one noticed a problem before. I was the one who took care of John when we were little; he was so good, it amazed me how good he could be compared to the rest of the family. I've never met anyone else in our family or even heard of any other relatives."

"That most have been hard. I know most of my family, my dad has two siblings and my mum has three. We have family reunions every year; if you want you can come with me to one it's actually coming up."

"Like a date?" Ward said with hope in his eyes.

"Well…that's if…you wanted it to be." Jemma said nervously.

"I'd love too."

"Really?!"

"Yes."

"All right then. It's on Tuesday July 8th and you might want to bring a swimsuit. My brother always throws me in, so you might want to have yours with you or on you." Jemma said with a smile. Ward didn't answer right away, but had a look of desire as he pictured Jemma wet in a pool. "Grant!" Jemma said embarrassed by the thought Ward it looked like Ward was having.

"Sorry, just picturing you…okay. I'll stop." Ward said slightly embarrassed too.

"We're arriving in five minutes." Coulson said over the coms.

"Are you almost done with the autopsy?" Ward asked changing the subject.

"Yes. He did of a heart attack. I don't know if it was due to the 084 or naturally. His arteries have a little bit of plaque a piece might have caused the heart attack, but I haven't had a chance to examine his heart closely." Jemma said as she started to stitch the man back up. "I left out his heart to be looked at. We can put it back later."

"Well I'm sure we'll do just that. After we give our data over to the hub would you like to go to lunch with me?"

"I'd love too."

"Okay."

"After we're cleared to exit the lab you might want to put a better shirt on."

"Yeah you too, you have a little bit of my blood on your shirt."

Jemma smiled and continued to stitch up the man, while they waited to land Jemma input her data into the computer which was automatically updated at the hub where the lab was going through the data. Ward sat at the lab table watching Jemma do her work; he would never admit it to the others, but he loved to watch her work.


	2. Chapter 2

Jemma and Ward were released shortly from quarantine after they landed and met up with Skye, Triplett, and Fitz in the cafeteria while Coulson and May finished up with their meetings with the other team leaders. Jemma and Ward sat on one side of the table while Fitz and Triplett were on the other side and Skye sat on one end between Jemma and Triplett.

"I'm surprised you two weren't bored out of your minds by time they said you were clear." Triplett said not knowing that Ward and Jemma got along just fine without things to keep them busy.

"It wasn't that long." Jemma said with a small smile.

"We were just fine." Ward said as he squeezed Jemma's hand under the table.

"So what did you guys talk about?" Skye said knowing they had talked from the video feed that was in the holotable room.

"We talked about different things." Jemma said not wanting to give any information on Ward's past without his permission.

"Really that's all I get?"

"Yep." Ward said with a smile.

"Coulson said we have a few hours before we have to be back at the bus, so what do you guys want to do?" Fitz asked.

"I want to go to the nearest mall." Skye said quickly, "You want to go with me Jemma?"

"Sure." Jemma answered.

"I'm going to work on my robot." Fitz said.

"Could you teach me a little about it? I think that'd be really cool." Triplett said interested in how Fitz was going to make a robot.

"That'd be cool mate."

"I'm going to work-out and then take a nap." Ward said, "But after I'm finished with lunch."

"A nap does sound good." Jemma said with a smile as she glanced at Ward.

"Oh come on Jemma. Please come with me I promise I'll have you back in time for a nap." Skye begged.

"All right." Jemma said and then gave Ward's hand a squeeze.

Once everyone was done with lunch Skye and Jemma headed off to the mall; while Fitz and Triplett went to build a robot, Ward joined them for a little while before heading to his pod to take a nap. Skye and Jemma first went to a dress shop because Jemma needed a summer dress for the family reunion.

"Are you taking Fitz with you?" Skye asked.

"No, actually I'm taking Grant." Jemma said as she blushed.

"Grant? Grant Ward?"

"Yes, Grant is going with me."

"Since when? Are you two an item now?"

"Since I asked him. And what is an item?"

"An item is another term for going out, dating Jemma. Are you dating?"

"Skye I just asked him today. We haven't even gone on a date to be considered dating."

"But you want to date him?"

"Well yes I do."

"Oh my God! This is so exciting." Skye squealed with excitement, "We have to find you the perfect dress."

"Skye you can't tell anyone, especially not Fitz, he'd give Ward the big brother act." Jemma said in a very serious tone.

"I thought you and Fitz were like partners."

"No, no he's like my brother. We even had this talk before and we decided we were more like siblings."

"But didn't he go with you to all your family things?"

"Yes normally he does, but I've asked Ward and occasionally Fitz didn't go to every family event."

"Okay. Come on there has to be a good dress in here." Skye said as she dragged Jemma into a store that had a lot of summer dresses.

Back on the bus Ward was watching as Fitz and Triplett began to strategies exactly what they were going to use for their robot; Fitz was drawing in a notebook, while Triplett gathered some tools. Ward watched them with interest as they moved around a small lab table. Soon Fitz and Triplett were putting pieces together that looked somewhat complicated. Ward continued to watch till he got the courage to ask Fitz a few questions.

"So Fitz have you ever been to any family events of Jemma's?" Ward asked as if it were nothing.

"Yeah, her mother and aunts keep trying to set us up." Fitz replied.

"Oh, so what are they like?"

"What's your sudden interest in Jemma's family?" Triplett said curiously.

"Umm…. She invited me to go with her." Ward said with a hint of blush in his cheeks.

"You're going with her to the family reunion." Fitz stated as he looked up from the notebook.

"Yes."

"As in a date?"

"Yes."

"You know if you hurt her I'll kill you, right?"

"Yes I do. Is that your version of big brother talk?"

"Yes, but I do know how to kill you and make it look like an accident."

"I'm in on that. Jemma is very special, so hurting her." Triplett said adding his input.

"I know guys. She is very, very special to me. I would never do anything to hurt her." Ward said strongly.

"Okay." Fitz said as he looked back to his notebook.

"Okay?"

"Yes, okay. Jemma's a big girl she can take care of herself."

"Okay."

"All of her family are great, but you might want to take her on a date and talk more with her about them and about yours. It might help you."

"Good idea. Thanks Fitz. So tell me a little bit about them."

"Well you know about her brother?"

"Which one?"

"Alex."

"Yes. I do."

"What about Alex." Triplett asked.

"He was Jemma's younger brother. He was gay and committed suicide because he was bullied at school." Fitz answered.

"Oh. That's horrible."

"Yeah." Ward said.

"Her father is Tom, he's a doctor and works at the children's hospital." Fitz said to Ward.

"Okay."

"Her mother is Catherine; she works at nursing home, as a nurse."

"Oh wow. Both parents help people."

"Yes, that's part of the reason why Jemma joined SHIELD."

"Thanks Fitz. I'm going to go take that nap."

"See ya." Triplett said as Ward left the lab.


	3. Chapter 3

Ward would never admit it but he was beyond nervous and to add on top of it they were called for a mission a few hours before he and Jemma planned to have dinner off the bus together; a part of him was relived, but another part of him was disappointed he was really looking to seeing Jemma outside of work. Not that they hadn't seen each other outside of work, but movie night with the rest of the team on the bus wasn't the romantic date he was going for; he wanted to show Jemma that he could give her everything that she wanted and more. He wanted to prove to her that he was a good man and a man that could provide for her; but at this moment he was the man gearing up with Triplett to head in to an underground shelter to retrieve a girl who had powers from her father that used her.

"Don't worry Ward everything will be fine." Triplett said as he grabbed a few guns.

"I know. I'm just worried that Jemma will be upset about me not being able to take her out." Ward said as he put on his vest.

"Dude she'll be happy if you come back alive, you can always make up for the dinner."

"You're right."

"Come on we have to go get briefed."

Triplett and Ward then headed to the lab where Coulson was waiting for them with the rest of the team; Fitz had worked on two guns that could be used to stun and sedate the girl if needed. Jemma and Skye were working on getting as much information on the underground shelter as they could to give them an advantage, even though they didn't know exactly what they were going to come up against underground. They had the semantics, but not what it really looked like; Skye had even tried to hack in to their system to get visuals of where exactly the girl was at, but something in the shelter was blocking any outside system from hacking in.

So as Ward and Triplett were getting prepared Coulson decided to send Jemma in with them in case something was to go wrong and if they couldn't convince the girl to come with them; he thought that maybe a female would help the girl choose to come with them willingly then them having to stun and sedate her. Ward decided to put a bulletproof vest on her and Triplett handed her a gun; they both were concerned with her going with them but they understood why she was coming.

"All right you guys will be taking the SUV. I already put the coordinates in the GPS to get you to the only way in or out of the shelter." Skye said as she, Fitz, May, and Coulson gave the last brief to Jemma, Ward, and Triplett.

"The father is armed and dangerous and he has a few followers, so be careful." May said.

"Jemma you are to stay with them at all times." Coulson said not wanting anything to happen to any of them. "Proceed with caution."

"Take care of one another. We'll be waiting here for you to come back and then we're going back to the hub." Fitz said as he handed Ward and Triplett each a gun that would stun and sedate if needed.

"We'll be back soon." Ward said as he headed to the SUV, where he watched Jemma into the back while he and Triplett got into the front.

Soon they arrived at the area the door to the shelter was near, they started to head in to see where exactly the entrance to the shelter was at; they just happened to come across a man coming out of the ground with an AK-47, who was coming out to take up his shift for guarding the area. Jemma was spotted by the man, but before he could do anything Triplett took him out by knocking him out with a hit to the back of the head; Ward had moved to block Jemma a moment before that to protect her from the man.

"Jemma stay behind me." Ward said as they approached the door to the entrance.

Triplett grabbed the handle and then motioned to Ward that he was going to open the door and to be ready; Jemma stayed behind Ward and rung her hands together with worry about what they were going to go through to get to the girl they needed to help. Triplett showed three fingers, then two, then one; they quickly entered the shelter, it took a few seconds but their eyes adjusted to the lower lighting. Ahead of them was a single door, Ward and Triplett shared a look and then nodded to each other; Jemma on the other hand waited close to the door they entered in and by the wall to make sure she was out of the way. Triplett grabbed the handle to the door and nodded to the left, while Ward nodded back and was looking to the right. When Triplett opened the door Ward went in and to the right and he was right behind him heading to the left; Jemma watched with interest on how they didn't have to speak to understand each other.

Inside the room there were four men, they looked at each other before they started to get up and attack Ward and Triplett, they were easily taken care of. Ward took on two while Triplett had two of his own; Ward and Triplett quickly disarmed their men and incapacitated them. That's when they noticed the cage off to one side of the room, inside was a little girl no older than five cowering in a corner of the cage.

"Jemma we need you in here." Ward said as he slowly approached the cage door. "Hi, my name is Grant. Can you tell me your name?" He took out a tool to open the door.

"Please don't hurt me." The little girl cried.

"We're not going to hurt you. My name is Triplett, but everyone calls me Trip. We have another friend her name is Jemma. See that's her." Triplett said as he pointed to Jemma who came into the little girl's line of sight.

"Hello sweetheart. Are you hurt?" Jemma asked as Ward opened the door to the cage, she slowly entered to check the little girl for injuries. "I'm just going to see if you need medical treatment okay?" Jemma said and then approached the little girl, who nodded her head.

"He'll hurt you if he sees you." The little girl said softly as Jemma checked her for injuries.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Melanee."

"Can you tell me where your father is?"

"He went out."

"Okay."

"Jemma we have to get going." Ward said as he entered the cage, while Triplett watched through the doorway.

"She's stable to be moved." Jemma said as she stood up and held out her hand for Melanee. "Do you want to come with us?"

"Will you protect me?" Melanee said still scared.

"Yes." Ward said softly as he held out his hand too. Melanee took both their hands and they pulled her up so she was standing; they then quickly headed for the door.

"Do you mind if I carry you?" Ward asked as they stopped after the exited the underground shelter. At first Melanee still looked scared, but Jemma nodded her head that it was a good idea and put on a big smile. Melanee then nodded and Ward gently picked her up to carry her; Triplett followed while Jemma lead Ward and Melanee back to their truck.


	4. Chapter 4

When Triplett, Ward, and Jemma returned to the bus with the little five year old, Melanee, the rest of the team were surprised by the age of the little girl; from reports it seemed like she was older and to see this scared little girl, it made them all angry. And the fact that when did a full check up on Melanee she found out wounds, like broken bones and scars from cigarettes and other objects; May had to leave the area and went to where they had the punching bag and started to beat on it. It took every part of Ward's self-control to not join May; he wanted to be strong for Melanee and show her that he wasn't going to hurt her. So he along with Jemma stayed near Melanee at all times; Fitz, Skye, and Triplett spent a little less time with them, but were there any time they needed them.

Soon they arrived at the hub where Coulson, May, and other leaders decided that she should be with on a team till she reached the age that she could go to the academy to be trained. And since they knew that their team connected so well with Melanee; Coulson and May made the decision that she'd stay with them. Once they told the team, they all agreed that this was the best situation for Melanee. Jemma told Coulson that Melanee needed to go to school, so that she could advance in the world; he decided that Jemma would be her teacher till she reached the age where she went to the academy. So Jemma still did most of what she'd normally do in the lab, plus she taught Melanee in between the missions and lab work.

Surprisingly Ward was quite good with children; he did everything he could to show Melanee that a good man, a real man, didn't hurt women and especially children. Coulson, Triplett, and Fitz all seemed to agree and also wanted to make her feel like a princess, but still reprimanded her when she did something wrong. Jemma's mother instincts kicked in once they had her aboard the bus for the first few days and she was a natural at it. May and Skye both were good mother figures as well, but Jemma spent the most of the time with Melanee; so she took on the role of mother.

As they continued to work with Melanee for a few months on how to control her powers they found out that they first started showing when she was about three. Her father then started to use her for those powers; her mother had died during child birth or at least that's what her father told her. So Skye started to do a search for Melanee's mother to see if she really died or if she disappeared (was killed); while Skye tried to get more information Jemma and Melanee started to go over the alphabet and a few other things.

"If my mommy's still alive will she want me?" Melanee asked softly as Jemma was showing her the alphabet.

"I don't know sweetheart." Jemma said truthfully.

"What happens if daddy wants me back?"

"He's not going to get you back. We sent the local police after him. You know how your daddy wasn't very nice?"

"Yes, he's not like Grant."

"That's right. The things that he did to you are not allowed, so he and the men who are with him are going to jail. Mr. Coulson even made sure to make him sign papers that give us custody of you."

"What's cu…custo...dy?"

"It means he can't take you away from us. He has no control over you."

"Does that make you my new mommy?"

"I…um…I'm not sure."

"You don't want to be my mommy?"

"No…sweetheart I'd love to be your mommy."

"I want you to be my mommy."

"Then I will be your mommy."

"So I can call you mommy?"

"Sure. Come on let's get back to your letters." Jemma said as she and Melanee started to look over the alphabet again.

Later that day, Ward came to get Jemma and Melanee for dinner, he picked Melanee up and carried her up to the dinner table.

"So how was school?" Ward asked as he set Melanee down at the table which everyone was already around.

"It was fun. Mommy and I went over my letters." Melanee said excitedly.

"Mommy?" Coulson said with a smile.

"Yes." Jemma replied before putting some food on Melanee's plate.

"Okay."

"All right, so what else did you learn today?" Skye asked changing the subject.

"Shapes and some numbers." Melanee said with a big smile.

"Awesome."

"Daddy?" Melanee said as she looked at Ward, who choked on his water that he was starting to drink.

"Umm…yes?" Ward said after a few coughs; everyone around the table were looking at Melanee with surprised looks. They didn't expect her to pick up on the fact that Ward and Jemma were interested in each other, but they quickly went back to eating.

"Can you teach me to ride a bike?"

"Sure princess."

"I wanted to learn with my other daddy, but he said I was stupid and would never be good enough to learn."

Ward had a look of anger and then he looked at Melanee with kind eyes, leaned over so that he was Melanee's height and said, "Whatever your other daddy said to you is not true. You are a smart little girl and you're going to learn so much from your mommy. I'd be honored to teach you to ride a bike. Okay?" Ward then kissed Melanee's forehead and pulled her into a hug.

"Okay." Melanee said softly and she held on to Ward.


	5. Chapter 5

Before Ward had the chance to buy Melanee a bike that she could learn on, they were called on a mission; where Jemma was staying behind on the bus with Melanee and Skye, while the others went to gather on a man named Josh Arnold, he reportedly was gathering information for centipede.

"Hopefully we'll be back soon." Ward said as he was gathering his equipment.

"Okay daddy." Melanee said as she continued to color at the little table that Fitz had created for her to work at in the lab.

"You be good for your mom, okay?"

"I will be."

"Good girl."

"Try to be careful." Jemma said as she moved over to Ward to kiss him goodbye.

"I'll try." Ward said quickly before kissing Jemma and then moving over to Melanee to get a hug and kiss from her.

"I love you daddy." Melanee said giving Ward a hug.

"I love you too." Ward kissed Melanee's forehead and then got up to head to the vehicle.

"We'll see you soon." Skye said from her spot next to Jemma at the lab table.

"Coms are up and running. Let's go." Coulson said as he got into the SUV.

"Skye, Jemma keep doing research on Josh." May said as she got into the driver's seat.

"You got it." Skye replied for herself and Jemma.

About an hour after the team left Skye and Jemma were talking, while they waited for news that the team had arrived at the apartment of Josh Arnold and continued to gather information on what Josh was gathering information on.

"So have you and Ward talked about you both being a mom and dad before your even had a proper date?" Skye asked.

"We've had proper dates, and no we haven't had the time." Jemma said.

"Do you love him?"

"Of course I do. The thing is does he love me?"

"How can you ask that? Of course he loves you. The way that he looks at you and the things he does for you show that he loves you."

"I just don't see what he sees."

"Jemma you're a wonderful person he's lucky to have someone who loves him the way that you do before even been dating a month."

"I'm sure your right."

"I'm always right."

"Something doesn't feel right about this." Jemma said as she continued to work on her tablet.

"I agree, but we can do anything about it till we get some information." Skye said as she continued to try and hack into a feed that was coming out of the room.

A few minutes later the team responded that they had arrived; right before the team were about to enter Skye hacked into a video feed of the inside of the room, it was being watched by someone; Skye knew that they had been played and yelled into the com that they had been played. Skye watched as Ward had kicked the door in a few seconds before the bomb went off; Jemma was standing right next to her after hearing they had been played was watching the video feed seeing Ward and then it went black.

"Guys! Can anyone hear me?" Skye yelled into the com.

"Skye what do we do if they don't contact us? What about Ward…and the others? Are they okay?"

"Jemma breathe. I'm sure they'll contact us." Skye said then turned back to the com, "Guys I need you to reply. Anyone there?"

"Mommy what's wrong? Is daddy okay?" Melanee said as she came over to Jemma with big tearful eyes, she had heard Skye and Jemma's conversation.

"I don't know sweetheart. Come here." Jemma said as she opened her arms for Melanee who immediately went to her; Jemma picked her up and held her close.

"Guys?!" Skye said into the com.

When suddenly there was static and then Coulson's voice came over the com, "Skye, Jemma we need you here. Take Lola. Keys are in my office. We need a doctor."

"Sir what about Melanee?" Jemma said worried.

"Triplett and a team are coming to us now bring her with you and don't forget to buckle up." Coulson said and then there was silence.

"Come on let's go." Skye said as she ran out the doors leading to the cargo hold.

Skye ran up the stairs to the living area and then up the other stairs to Coulson's office; while Jemma put Melanee in the car so that they were ready to leave when Skye came back down. Inside Coulson's office Skye was hurrying to look for his keys, she was starting to panic and had to stop herself from thinking what she was thinking. Once she found his keys she quickly ran back down to Lola; Jemma was grabbing medical supplies as Skye came running down the stairs.

"Is there anything else you need to grab?" Skye asked a little out of breathe.

"Yes this bag and that one." Jemma said and they quickly put the stuff into the car next to Melanee; got into the cars themselves and were off.

"By any chance did you grab a com?" Skye said as she was flipping the switch to flying mode.

"Yes." Jemma said as she started to put her seatbelt on.

"Good. Ask how far out Triplett is."

"Okay," Jemma then grabbed the com and said, "Coulson, how far out is Triplett and his team? ...Coulson?"

"They should be here in twenty minutes. How far are you guys?" Fitz said coming over the com sounding out of breathe.

"Fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds."

"Good we need help. I'll let Coulson know."

Skye then sped up a bit at hearing 'we need help' someone was obviously hurt and she knew it had to be Ward and maybe May since those two were probably the two closest to the door when the room exploded.


	6. Chapter 6

Fitz and Coulson had pulled May and Ward from the building the whole floor had practically exploded and they had been thrown down the stairs that were a few feet from the door. Fitz was on his knees next to Ward trying to see how much damage was done and what exactly Jemma would need to do once she got here; Coulson on the other hand was with May holding onto her hand and holding a hand on the open wound from some of the shrapnel that had come from the inside of the apartment.

"Sir how is May?" Fitz asked.

"She seems okay other than this shrapnel wound. I don't know if she hit her head or anything." Coulson said.

"I'll be over in a second."

"She is regaining consciousness."

"I'm coming can you come here and hold this on Ward's chest?"

"I'm coming."

Coulson and Fitz switched places, so that Fitz could see how bad May needed attention; Coulson began to hold a towel that Fitz had retrieved from the SUV to Ward's chest, several pieces of shrapnel were embedded. Fitz hurried over to May who was starting to move around on the ground; he gently put a hand on her side to hold her wound that was bleeding.

"May can you hear me?" Fitz asked as he looked in to her opening eyes.

"Yes. What happened?" May replied.

"Explosion, Ward took most of the blast, but you have a wound on your side. I'm holding a towel that I found in the SUV to it. Can you hold on to it, so I can take a look at your pupils?"

"Yeah I got it."

May moved her hands to cover where Fitz's were and then Fitz removed his hands from under hers to pull out one of his flash lights.

"Can you tell me what you remember?" Fitz said as he flashed the light in her eyes.

"We were going into an apartment where Josh Arnold is supposed to be at." May answered.

"Good."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine."

"How is Ward?"

"He really needs a doctor. Jemma, Skye, and Melanee are on their way here along with Triplett and a team."

"Go help him. I'm fine."

"Sir, switch back." Fitz said to Coulson, who automatically switched with him and took over holding the towel to May's side.

"Are you okay?" May asked Coulson when he had appeared at her side.

"I'm okay, nothing a few advil wouldn't help with."

"How bad is Ward?"

"It's not looking too well. We need a doctor and Jemma should be here soon." Coulson then turned to Fitz, "How long now?"

"Any minute." Fitz replied.

"Good." May said as she moved to sit up.

"Please stay laying Melinda. At least until Jemma has look at you." Coulson said worried.

"I'm not that bad Phil."

"Don't care. Please for me."

"Okay."

May laid back down and let Coulson continued to apply pressure to the wound; soon they heard Lola landing followed by Jemma, Skye, and Melanee running over to them.

"PC here's a medic bag." Skye said as she knelt down next to him and May.

"Thanks. Could you get out some gauze?" Coulson asked as he continued to apply pressure.

"You got it. How you doing May?" Skye asked as she began to go through the bag.

"I'm good." May replied quickly.

"How about you PC?"

"I'm fine." Coulson said taking the gauze from Skye.

"Good."

"Ward! Don't give up on me!" Jemma shouted from next to Ward who had the defibrillator hooked to his chest and was about to shock him. "Clear!"

Ward's chest jumped and then there was a rhythm, Jemma then went back to taking things out of his chest with precision. Fitz was by her side helping her; Skye looked over to see Melanee on the other side of Ward close to her that she went over to her and held her as she cried. May and Coulson were silent, but on the inside they were praying that everything would be okay. Triplett and a team arrived shortly after that and medics began to help Jemma take care of Ward and few other medics began to help May.

Coulson, Skye, Triplett, and Melanee moved out of the way to give the medics, Jemma, and Fitz more room to help the others; Melanee was in Skye's arms crying, while holding Coulson's hand with one of her hands that was around Skye's neck. They watched as two of the medic's went and retrieved a gurney to put Ward on, while Jemma moved to check out May's wound; the medics were listening to everything Jemma was saying since she was the doctor that they had. She quickly looked over May's wound to see if she needed to have surgery or could be stitched up; the first was what she decided would be better to make sure that there were no shrapnel in the wound that she couldn't see, so two medic's went to get another gurney from the helicopter they had come in.

"Jemma we're losing him!" Fitz yelled over to Jemma who ran over to them immediately leaving the other two medics to look after May.

"Give him a shot of adrenaline. Clear!" Jemma said quickly, after they gave the shot, she hit the button to start Ward's heart back up. "Resume compressions. We have to get them to a hospital. Let's move now."

Ward was stable enough to be loaded into the helicopter followed by May; Fitz moved to come over to the group who were still watching as they took off.

"Jemma says she's going to stay with them. We'll meet them there." Fitz said as he came to a stop.

"You two should be looked at too. Come on I'll drive to the hospital they're taking them too." Triplett said after he talked with a few of his men that were going to talk with authority about what had happened. He told them that he and the others could be reached at the hospital and that should they give any grief to inform them that they did have a warrant and went through the proper authorities.


	7. Chapter 7

When Jemma, Ward, and May arrived at the hospital, Ward and May were immediately rushed in to surgery; while Jemma start to fill in the medical staff on what exactly happened and what they might need done. The doctors told her that they were going to everything that they could and that she had done a great job, but that they were going to take over; they then headed into the OR rooms to work on May and Ward. Jemma sat in the waiting room until one of the nurses offered her some scrubs to change into so that she wasn't sitting there covered with blood; which she changed into and by that time the rest of the team were in the waiting room.

"Have you guys heard anything yet?" Jemma asked as she moved to pick up Melanee from Skye.

"No we haven't." Coulson replied from his stance near the nurse's station.

"I've got her Jem. She fell asleep on the way here. I think she tuckered herself out from crying." Skye said from her seat in between to Fitz and Triplett, Triplett stood so that Jemma could sit down.

"Dr. Simmons?" A nurse called into the room, Jemma quickly moved to be closer to the nurse followed by the rest of the team.

"Yes." Jemma answered.

"Agent May is out of surgery. We cleaned the wound and there were no pieces of shrapnel. She's up and by up I mean she's getting dressed even though we told her to stay put. We can't get her to listen to us. Is there anything you could do?"

"I'll talk to her." Coulson said as he moved over to them, "What room?"

"She's in room 114. When Agent Ward is out we'll be sending him to the same room. Figured it be easier for you guys." The nurse said to Coulson who quickly made his way down the hall toward May.

"Thank you very much. Do you have any information on Grant?" Jemma asked worriedly.

"No sorry. I was only with Agent May."

"Okay, thank you." Jemma said as the nurse gave her arm a soft squeeze before walking back toward the nurse's station.

Jemma and the group moved back to where Skye was sitting holding Melanee who was still sleeping; where Jemma filled her in on the news about May.

"I always figured she be one to hate hospitals." Skye said with a little smirk.

"She barely lets me help her." Jemma said as she sat back down next to Skye. "I'm really worried about Grant." Jemma looked at her hands before continuing, "I mean what if he…if he doesn't…"

"Jem you can't think like that. I'm sure he'll pull through. He has reasons to. He wouldn't want to leave you…or Melanee. He loves you both." Skye said as she moved her most free hand to squeeze one of Jemma's.

"Mommy?" Melanee said as she woke in Skye's arms.

"Hello sweetheart." Jemma said taking Melanee from Skye.

"Is daddy going to be okay?"

"I can't make any promises, but he's a tough guy he's going to fight to be with us."

"I know mommy, but he didn't look so good."

"I know, but it's going to be okay."

Melanee then laid her head on Jemma's shoulder and slowly fell back to sleep while they waited for news on Ward; Fitz filled Triplett in, who had noticed the conversation between Jemma and Melanee, he was happy for them and he hoped that it would stay that way. As the hours passed by soon others were sleeping in the uncomfortable chairs or couch that Jemma and Melanee were currently on; it was nearly 4 in the morning, but Coulson, May, and Triplett were still awake.

"He's been in there a long time." Triplett said.

"He's fighting though." Coulson replied.

"Yeah he is."

"But what if…if he doesn't make it?" May asked. "How do you think Jemma and Melanee are going to handle it?"

"I don't even want to think of that possibility." Coulson said. "Jemma would be strong, but Melanee. Having to lose him might hurt her the most."

"This is so hard. I want to be doing something, make it better." Triplett said softly. Coulson put a hand on his shoulder knowing how he was feeling.

"All we can do is wait and be here for Jemma and Melanee. They are going to need us to be strong."

"You're right."

"Have you guys heard anything yet?" Skye asked as she walked over and rubbed sleep out of her eyes; she had stayed near Jemma in fear that she would break down, but wanted to know if the others had heard anything.

"Nothing yet." Coulson said as he watched Skye's face go from sleepy to worry.

"You guys should take a nap or something. I'll wake you if a nurse comes."

"Can't," May said, "I'm too worried."

"I could use some shut eye." Triplett said as he sat back and tried to get comfortable.

"Me too." Coulson said as he moved over to the chair near Jemma and Melanee.

Skye and May then moved a few chairs away to let the men rest; Skye looked jittery even after sleeping for a couple of hours.

"You sure you don't want to sleep, you need to rest to heal properly or at least I think Jemma would say something like that." Skye said softly.

"She would." May said with a small smile.

"What do you think Jemma would do if Ward doesn't…if he…"

"She'd have a hard time, but she's strong she'd be okay, but I think the real question is, 'how will I be if he doesn't'"

"Yeah."

"No one knows what they'd do or if they'd be okay till that point comes. Hopefully it won't."

Skye nodded and then moved back over to be by Jemma and Melanee; she knew that no matter what she was going to be there for them. May sat there for a moment before she leaned back against the chair and shortly after she was asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Soon everyone was asleep, but that didn't last long because the doctor that was working on Ward came to talk to them. He woke Fitz up first and had him wake the others; Fitz woke Skye, Triplett, and Coulson, but didn't want to wake Jemma or May. So Skye woke Jemma and Melanee up while Coulson moved over to May who was awake quickly and stood up and helped Coulson up off the floor. When he had tried to wake her up she had pushed him and he fell to the floor. After they were both on their feet and awake they moved over to the doctor who was going to give them information on Ward.

"Sorry." Coulson said from his spot next to May; Skye was next to Jemma who was holding Melanee and on the other side of Jemma was Fitz who looked like he was exhausted. Behind of Fitz and Jemma was Triplett; he had been such a help to them and now he stood with them just as worried about Ward as the rest of them.

"Agent Ward's surgery went as well as possible. He sustained a lot of damage to his internal organs as well as several broken bones. We did everything we possibly could." The doctor said before taking a breath.

"Is he?" Jemma said with tears in her eyes before the doctor could continue.

"He is stable for now. He can still pull through."

"But?" Coulson asked knowing that Jemma couldn't.

"He's not through the woods yet. Right now we need to keep him comfortable till we get better or worse results."

"Thank you doctor."

"Can we see him?" Jemma asked needing to see Ward for herself.

"Not yet. I'll let you know when you can." The doctor replied before walking away.

Melanee was quickly put into the arms of May as Jemma felt her legs give out, May had noticed Jemma's pale face and quickly took Melanee from Jemma; Skye was right there to catch Jemma or at least slow down her down and with the help of Triplett she was able to keep Jemma standing. Jemma broke down crying after the doctor had left and now she was sobbing uncontrollably as Skye and Triplett held on to her; Fitz had moved over to May and Melanee to give his support to Melanee who was crying too.

"Come on Jemma let's sit down." Skye said softly as she gently pull Jemma toward the couch.

Once Jemma and Skye were seated on the couch Triplett kneeled near Jemma to lend her his support, while May and Melanee sat down on the other side of Skye on another couch; Jemma couldn't believe that all this was happening, it was supposed to be an easy mission and now Ward was in critical condition in a hospital.

"He'll pull through you know him Jemma." Triplett said trying to give Jemma some hope.

"He'll make because he loves you and Melanee, Jem." Skye said as she held Jemma.

A half an hour later a nurse came over and said, "Excuse me."

"Yes?" Skye asked wondering what the nurse wanted and why it was so important to talk to them now.

"The doctor said that Agent Ward can have one visitor at a time."

"Can one of us go in with Melanee, his daughter?"

"Sure I don't think that'd be a problem. But you might want to warn her about what she'll see."

"Thank you."

"He's in room 114."

"Thanks."

Coulson, May, Fitz, and Melanee came over to Skye, Jemma, and Triplett wondering what the nurse had said to them about Ward.

"She said one at a time, but Melanee can go in with someone." Skye said.

"Jemma why don't you and Melanee go first." Coulson said.

"Are you sure?" Jemma said worried.

"Yes. You and Melanee go first."

"It'll be all right Jemma." Skye said giving Jemma a hug before May handed Melanee over to Jemma.

Jemma and Melanee then started to head down the hall to Ward's room, before they reached the room Jemma stopped set Melanee down for a second.

"Melanee." Jemma said getting Melanee's attention.

"Yes mommy." Melanee said.

"When we go in there it might be a little scary. Daddy is going to have a lot of bandages on him and a tube in his mouth to help him breathe. There is going to be lots of wires too. But all those things are helping daddy."

"Okay."

"All right then."

Jemma and Melanee then finished the walk down the hall to Ward's room; when they finally got to the room Jemma opened the door and let Melanee walk in first. Melanee went straight over to Ward's bed where she gently took his hand in hers; Jemma followed her and sat in the chair next to the bed and then picked Melanee up to hold her in her lap while they visited Ward.

"Mommy do you think daddy can hear us?" Melanee asked after a moment of silence.

"I think he can." Jemma said softly with tears in her eyes, it was hard to see Ward so broken.

"Hi daddy. Mommy and I are here. We love you daddy, right mommy?"

"That's right. We all love you. I love you."

"Uncle Fitz said that you need to get better so that you can help mommy. She's upset. I miss you daddy. Mommy and I miss you. Who's going to read me my story tonight? Hope you feel better soon daddy."

"Give daddy a kiss and then we'll go see if Aunt May will read you that story."

"Okay mommy." Melanee said as Jemma lifted her so that she could kiss Ward on the cheek.

Jemma followed with a soft kiss on the lips and then carried Melanee out of the room and back to the waiting area; where the group were waiting for them. Jemma gave them all an idea of what Ward looked like and that whoever wanted to go next was welcome to, so Skye went next.

"Hey Ward. You look like hell by the way, but I really hope you get well soon. Jemma's really worried and so am I." Skye said as she sat next to Ward's bed with his hand in hers. "Well I'll let one of the others come visit you. Stay strong." She then got up and left the room to let someone else have a turn.

Fitz went next and when he sat down next to Ward he gently patted Ward's hand and then said, "Hi Ward. I don't know if you can hear me, but I need you to get better like now. Jemma's so worried and I worry about her. I know your strong and will pull through, but she and Melanee need you. So you better pull through." He stood and turned to leave, but turned back around, "We all need you."

Soon everyone even Triplett had a moment with Ward, but before they left Jemma went one last time; she need to see Ward one more time before they left for the bus so that they could get some more rest. She entered the room and sat down next to Ward, she took his hand in hers, and began to talk, "Hey Grant it's me. I just need you to know that I love you. I need you to be okay, okay? Even if what we have doesn't last I need you here. I need to know that you're here. I love you so much. Please come back to us…to me." Jemma then gave Ward a kiss on the lips and squeezed his hand before leaving.


	9. Chapter 9

After a few days they started to get better results from Ward and at the end of a few weeks the results were getting even better, but Ward wasn't waking up and that worried everyone; the doctors said that the body had taken so much damage that the brain was trying to work through it and that he would wake when his body was ready. The doctors decided that he was a good candidate for the new medication that they had been working on that would heal most of the damage to his bones and internal organs; so they said after a few days they were going to get him started on it.

Everyone liked the idea of Ward getting back to his old self and soon so they agreed with the treatment and soon Ward was started the medication; Jemma thought it seemed a lot like the centipede super solider type of injection, but they allowed her to look over the chemical property of the medication.

Melanee spent a lot of time with Ward and the others would be in and out throughout the day, she drew him lots of pictures so that when he woke up he'd have them to look at in his room; she even got the nurses to give her some tape to put the pictures up around the room and gloves to blow up and also put up around the room.

Jemma was faring harder about Ward not waking up yet and she worried that he would get amnesia and wouldn't remember her or love her anymore; Skye had to remind her that it was only a possibility, but might not actually happen, she often had to bring Jemma back down to earth. Coulson and May both were worried about Jemma's wellbeing, she had a hard time sleeping and couldn't focus and there's nothing worse than a no sleep working with deadly chemicals biochemist that could pass out at any moment; so they had been sedating her without her knowing so that she would actually get some sleep.

Triplett had stayed with the team to give them an extra person on staff and to give Jemma someone who she could talk to and was also field qualified in case they were needed for a local mission. He cared for this team so his input made Jemma feel a little bit more comfortable with having to go into the field. Coulson had one of the best teams other than his looking in to the bombing; he wanted results and only trusted his team and the team that were working on it. Skye looked in to who might behind the bombing and found a lot of results, but since she wanted to stay near Jemma she sent the information on to the other team and they did everything they could to look into it.

Soon a month had gone by and Ward was still unconscious, but he was responding well to treatment and Jemma felt him squeeze her hand back when asked to squeeze her hand. Things were looking up and the second team working on the bombing had received news about where the Hydra team were located. Coulson, May, Fitz, Skye, and Triplett were about to head to that location to meet the other team after they dropped Melanee and Jemma off at the hospital with the promise that they'd let her know what they found.

"You guys promise to be safe?" Jemma said as they were packing things, "Maybe I should go with you guys. Just in case you need a doctor."

"We're going to be fine Jemma. Go be with Ward and Melanee. They need you more. I promise if we need you we'll let you know." Coulson said as he finished reassembling his weapon.

"Okay."

"We'll be back soon." May said knowing that Jemma didn't like the idea of them going into the field without her.

"I know…I just." Jemma began.

"We know Jemma. Go be with Ward and Melanee, before you know it we'll be back. We'll update you as soon as we know something." Coulson said knowing that this was hard for her.

"Okay." Jemma then began to hug everyone; once she was done she headed inside the hospital.

"Everyone ready?" Coulson asked once everyone looked to have gathered everything that they needed.

"Yes sir." The group replied.

"All right let's go."

Soon everyone was loaded into a couple SUV's headed for a warehouse half an hour away; up in Ward's room Jemma and Melanee were coloring in a coloring book, when Ward muttered something about a beautiful sight to wake up to.

"Grant!" Jemma said as she and Melanee ran over to his bed to find him with his eyes open and looking at them.

"Daddy you're awake." Melanee said as she climbed on a chair so that she could see Ward better.

"How long have I been out?" Ward asked looking around.

"About a month." Jemma replied.

"Where is everyone?"

"They found out some information on who set us up and are headed to a warehouse to see if they can capture the Hydra cell that is allegedly working out of it."

"Daddy, I drew you a lot of pictures." Melanee said with a smile.

"I can see that princess. Your pictures are beautiful." Ward said with a smile.

"I'll go get a doctor. They'll want to check you out." Jemma said as she moved to leave the room to go get the doctor.

"Jemma before you do that there's something I want to say," Ward said as he took her hand, "I love you. I know that we have only been dating a month and a half, but I have never been happier. I love you both so much." Ward then brought Jemma's hand to his mouth and kissed it.

"I love you too. I thought I'd never be able to tell you." Jemma said as she moved closer to Ward, so that she could kiss him. And she did.

"I love mommy and daddy." Melanee said with a smile.

"And we love you too." Ward said as he pulled Melanee on to the bed so that he could hug her.

"I'll go get the doctor now." Jemma said with a smile as she watched Melanee curl up next to Ward; Jemma then left the room for a brief moment.


	10. Chapter 10

At the warehouse, the team quickly gained access and had captured the entire unit that was working out of the warehouse; they found out that they had wanted to kill whoever was to enter the apartment, but hadn't known that it would be a SHIELD team. But that didn't keep them from being happy that a couple of SHIELD agents had been hurt from the blast. Coulson had them transferred to the new fridge where they would be interrogated and then held until they figured out what to do with them. Jemma called them with the news that Ward was awake and couldn't wait to see them all, so after they finished with investigating the warehouse they hurried back to the hospital happy that Ward was finally awake.

Skye was the first through the door and she smiled at the sight in front of her; Ward, Jemma, and Melanee were all on Ward's bed, Ward had his arm around Jemma who was leaning against him and Melanee was curled up against Ward's chest sleeping. She was so happy at the sight in front of her that she took a picture of it before they noticed her; Fitz followed her in and moved so that they noticed that he and Skye had entered the room.

"How are you doing Mate?" Fitz asked as he and Skye moved to sit in the chairs near the bed.

"I'm good. I feel good." Ward said as he shook Fitz's hand after he hugged Skye.

"You had us worried." Skye said. Coulson, May, and Triplett all entered a little after that comment and Ward smiled.

"I was a little worried too." Ward said, "I didn't want to not wake up."

"The doctors came in a checked him over he should be able to at least go back to the bus in a day or two." Jemma said filling the others in, "They did say that if he starts to work out and everything feels good that he should be back in the field in a few weeks."

"That's awesome." Triplett said with a smile.

"Yeah, I felt the same way about that." Ward said as Melanee stirred against his chest, "So Melanee's birthday is coming up."

"Yes it is." Jemma replied.

"How about we take a vacation?"

"I think that'd be a good idea." Coulson said, "Where did you have in mind?"

"Disney okay?" Ward said a little quieter.

"Sounds good." Fitz said, "I always wanted to go there."

"I've never been there either." Skye said with a goofy smile.

"I'll set it up." Coulson said with a smile.

"Great." Ward replied with a big smile.

After that the group including Triplett spent two weeks in Florida at Disney World; Melanee was surprised for her birthday with the trip to Disney World and a new bike that Ward taught her to ride on. Triplett stayed with the group after that and worked well with everyone; Ward decided after a few more months of dating that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Jemma and proposed. Jemma was surprised by the proposal, but she too wanted to spend the rest of her life with Ward and said yes.

And they all lived happy lives together as a team/family.


End file.
